Tottenham arrived at Elland Road with three consecutive wins and departed disappointed by their failings in three departments. “We did not show character, we did not show personality, we did not show courage,” lamented Roberto De Zerbi and, if he was discussing the second half at Leeds, they amounted to fundamental failings for him.

The temptation is to take a swipe at the forward line and say they were found wanting in three other areas: left winger, right winger and centre-forward. That is probably unfair on Mohammed Kudus, a considerable talent only a few starts into a comeback, and cruel to Mathys Tel, taken off before half-time with what De Zerbi fears is a bad injury.

Spurs can argue that picking on those charged with scoring is harsh, given that they had seven goals from their three previous games before a powderpuff attack barely threatened Leeds. But the facts show that only Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Sunderland have scored fewer in the Premier League - and that may change after Sunday’s games.

Only three of Spurs’ 10 have come from forwards: Dominic Solanke’s injury-time equaliser at Old Trafford, Omar Marmoush’s thunderbolt against Coventry and Tel’s glorious solo goal at Chelsea. A case of quality rather than quantity, perhaps, even if they could all be damned by comparisons with the Ballon d’Or winner who used to deliver both for Spurs; that said, Harry Kane is on a four-game goal drought for Bayern Munich.

It may be one of the few ways that Marmoush, whose own drought spans a mere three matches, ranks better than Kane. Yet the Egyptian is the face of a conundrum Spurs have created with their record outlay; while those three victories offered encouraging evidence that De Zerbi’s buys are having an impact in defence and midfield, the attacking acquisitions were Marmoush and Savio, who have a combined tally of one goal and no assists in the top flight. The Brazilian has not played for four weeks but, between them, they will earn Manchester City £145m. City seem to have got much the better of those deals.

Savio has always faced the question of whether he can be productive enough and if he is best suited to the left or the right, Kudus’ best position. Marmoush increasingly faces the question of what he is: neither really a striker nor a winger. The Egyptian was prolific for Eintracht Frankfurt in a strike duo, alongside Hugo Ekitike; but De Zerbi does not play two up front. Solanke, more of a conventional spearhead, has four goals in his last 25 league games.

Tottenham have a host of imperfect options on the left – Savio, Tel, Marmoush – and if the 18-year-old Luca Williams-Barnett can generate the most excitement, that is in part an indictment of others when he has only played nine minutes of first-team football.

Is De Zerbi closer to finding his optimum attacking formula? It does not feel so, even if that is not entirely his fault. An ever-changing cast list is part of the complication. So is the question of the specialist No 10s, who all started the season injured and are on various points of the comeback trail; but then it is unsure if De Zerbi’s system will always contain one.

He played more of a 4-3-3 at Leeds, with Archie Gray as a No 8. If Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes, the £185m double act who have become the club’s two most expensive signings, excelled in alliance with each other at Chelsea, there is the unresolved issue if De Zerbi uses them with a more defensive midfielder, such as Rodrigo Bentancur, a No 8 or a No 10. Fernandes and Conor Gallagher, each more of a No 8 by trade, have played in the more advanced roles at times this season.

All of which could create congestion for a position that is sometimes obsolete. Of the players who seem to belong in Tottenham’s truest traditions, Xavi Simons is back in training, James Maddison scored a lovely goal against Coventry but, after missing training for some of the week, went unused at Leeds, and Dejan Kulusevski had his longest outing for 17 months, with 25 minutes.

Each might sprinkle a little magic; some would have been welcome at Leeds. Tottenham could be more creative; perhaps should be, having added classier passers in the middle of midfield. But they rank in mid-table for some of the chance creation and shooting statistics.

They have fared particularly badly in two: as the last team in the country to score a league goal and even now, with their 10, with a shot conversion rate of 6.5 percent. The figures would be worse but for their unlikely top scorer: defender Jan Paul van Hecke, who has two goals from 11 shots.

If others strip him of that status, and with games against Ipswich, Sunderland and Fulham next, there is the chance for Spurs to win six games out of seven. But even accounting for the oddities of their season, that surely requires some goals from the attackers who are usually responsible for scoring them.